If you’ve been feeling as if you’re being pulled through a keyhole backwards, it’s quite possible that old devil, Saturn, has been moving by ‘transit‘ through the twelfth house of your birth chart, across your ascendant(the eastern horizon of your chart) and whoosh, bam…you’ve just come through the rebirth canal into first house of self.

Poor Saturn. Ancient and traditional astrologers assign unflattering descriptions of his impact on a chart such as restriction, lessons to be learned, tiresome practicality, excruciating patience and let’s not forget, the wet blanket in any situation…definitely not someone jovial Jupiter wants to sidle up to at a party.

Naturally because it’s astrology, there’s never one ‘simple’ consideration. How moving Saturn impacts a chart depends on several variables including transiting sign and mathematical relationships to a chart’s other ‘sensitive’ points besides the ascendant. However, through the evolutionary lens, when Saturn’s on the move through the final frontier of our twelfth house, across our ascendant into the first house, he’s the driving force pushing us toward our highest potential.

In December Saturn temporarily finished its two year tour through, as Steven Forrestcalls it, ‘the spooky sign of Scorpio,’ entering the expansive sign of Sagittarius. Scorpio’s nature among other things, brings our unconscious to the surface, forcing us to look at those things that have been safely buried in the watery depths– usually things we’d rather not face.

Saturn in Scorpio makes us do what we don’t want to do…urging us to clean out the closet. For those where this process is happening in their twelfth house, the landscape is vast. While traditionally, this sector or circumstance of life is that of the mystic, the house of hidden things, a monastic life, it’s also our unconscious, the dungeon, –and the house of endings. Quite simply: the old you is no longer the person your Soul has mapped for this lifetime.

But here’s the catch.–in order to move on, WE have to let go …relationships, perspectives, jobs, dreams…the list can be endless, making us feel as if we’re standing naked in the eye of the Universe. However, the Universe is also ‘elegant’ as Forrest tells us. Now that Saturn’s in Sagittarius, while perhaps it hasn’t finished moving through one’s twelfth house quite yet, if we’ve done our clean-out work, we’re afforded the benefit of fresh perspectives, even new dreams, if we CHOOSE to use this opportunity, as choice is always astrology’s intent.

What if we haven’t done such a great job of cleaning out? The Universe recognizes that sometimes we’re asleep and things slip by us. Not to worry…in June that ‘Old Devil’ Saturn turns retrograde, backing up into Scorpio for a brief last pass before it finally moves on for the next two years in Sagittarius. Have you swept out all the corners? Have you looked hard at those things you’d rather not? Have you let go?

Recently a gifted medium friend of mine gave me an unsolicited message: “Follow Saturn.” At first I thought this odd, as this friend’s knowledge regarding astrology is modest. However the more I thought about it, I recalled my ‘transit’ chart reading with Steven Forrest last spring which focused heavily on Saturn transiting the 12th house of my natal chart.

For those unfamiliar with ‘astrospeak’, a brief side bar on what ‘transit’ means. Each of the planets in our solar system has an orbit that rotates them through the twelve signs of the zodiac; some planets for example like speedy Mercury and Venus move quite quickly. The ‘outer planets’ i.e., those furthest from the Sun take a very long time to lumber their way around the heavens. For example, Saturn takes approximately 28 years,(give or take), Uranus takes 83.75 years, Pluto takes 248.6 years and etheric Neptune takes 163.72 years.

From an evolutionary perspective, there are no accidents in a chart. Everyone’s chart is uniquely orchestrated for optimum Soul growth opportunities. When a planet’s orbit pings a sensitive point in our natal chart, such as the birth position of the Sun, Moon, Ascendant (i.e., the sign on the horizon the moment of your birth), as well as other important points including houses(the circumstances of life), this is called a ‘transit’. Transits can be very important because the psychological energies they carry come with updates, so to speak, in a personal agenda for us. Whether or not we take advantage of these perfectly ‘timed’ events is another matter; we can respond positively or negatively, the choice is ours.

The ancients viewed Saturn (that old devil) as a malefic, along with Mars and Pluto. Depending on their placements in a birth chart or by transit, it was believed that these guys portended inauspicious outcomes. Even today traditional astrologers may view a client’s chart with a wary eye when Saturn is ‘acting up.’ However, no doubt about it, Saturn’s job is to teach us lessons we need for growth and yet provide a sturdy foundation under our feet. Thus, if we opt for the evolutionary lens, we’re better tuned in if we view Saturn’s transit with a higher perspective.

Nevertheless, our experience of Saturn can be a lonely road to travel; often we’re ready to quit, throw in the towel and second-guess our judgement. These possibilities are particularly highlighted when Saturn by transit is in the sign of Scorpio as it is currently. Here, Saturn will remain until until this time next year when it shifts into Sagittarius for a time before backing up for a last past through Scorpio and then moves on for good in September 2015. So, we have our work cut out for us, each and every one. When Saturn’s in the sign of the Scorpion, we’re challenged to look at things within our psyche and past experiences we’d rather not. While in the end such excavations make us stronger, help us to grow by understanding how we could have behaved or done things differently, it’s not alwaysa particularly good time making us want to run the other way.

Dr. Bach’s Gentian is the perfect flower remedy for times when Saturn is wreaking havoc. As one of Bach’s original ‘Twelve Healers’, the negative Gentian mood state is all about discouragement, self-doubt and perseverance. According to Dr. Bach the purpose of the Gentianremedy is to lead us to an: “ understanding that there is no failure when you are doing your utmost, whatever the apparent result.”This understanding helps us realize that steady perseverance is essential to overcoming self-doubt. A vital key to our own Soul evolution is to remember that cosmic law dictates trusting the perfect timing of the universe; that the universe provides us with whatever we need for our expansion and growth. When we find change and challenge difficult, Gentian helps us to understand the value of, and engage in, perseverance in the face of adversity and disappointment.